Essay Series 6.6: The power structure that men dominate still treats women as second-class citizens (1980s - 2020s).

By the late 1980s, the tide had turned against women’s rights, with much of the media saying that women had birth control, career freedom, and sexual freedom, as well as the right to end pregnancies. The media also asserted that these new freedoms made women lonely and unfulfilled.⁴⁸⁵ The women’s movement and feminists were supposed to be the source of all women’s problems. The media and opponents of women’s rights also deemed advocates to be old, ugly, man-haters, crazy, and haters of sex.⁴⁸⁶

The common perception that the freedoms women gained in the 1960s and 1970s gave them equality with men is a myth. To prove my point, this essay provides some recent examples of how women remain second-class citizens.

The Senate Judiciary Committee (White men) tried to discredit Anita Hill’s assertion that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her while she worked for him. In contrast, the Committee accepted Thomas’ denials and did little to challenge his testimony. Women were so angry about Hill’s treatment that many ran for and won political office in 1992, including four Senate seats. One was Carol Moseley Braun, who was the first Black woman Senator.⁴⁸⁷

In 2011, Occupy Wall Street brought attention to wide economic inequality in the United States by contrasting the 99 percent of the population with few assets to the richest 1 percent of the population. Estimates are that about 40 percent of the protesters were women. However, the public faces of the movement were White men. And allegations of groping, rape, and sexual assault led to the creation of women-only tents. In addition, to give women time to speak, the movement had to create special sessions in which women were given a chance to talk without being interrupted.⁴⁸⁸

The vilification of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign brought out the misogynists. Some of the Republican candidate’s supporters called Clinton a whore and advocated killing her. Recall the Republican chant “Lock her up!” Some of the Bernie “bros” and other leftists also vilified Clinton by using that phrase, and some claimed that Clinton rigged the Democratic primary. The media portrayed Clinton and the Republican candidate as if their faults were comparable. They weren’t.⁴⁸⁹

Many women’s reaction to the President's election in 2016 was outrage and fear. The result was the Women’s March on the day after his inauguration in January 2017. At the time, this March was the largest political protest the United States had yet seen. Despite its size, the Women's March did not lead to significant policy responses from either political party.⁴⁹⁰

In 2022, women lost control over their bodies when the Supreme Court gave control over abortions to the states. In 2025, women and girls couldn’t get abortions in 12 states; most of these states had no exceptions for rape or incest. Another four states banned abortions after 6 weeks;⁴⁹¹ most women don’t even know they are pregnant by this time. Women have died, been disabled, or lost their ability to have children because they can’t get the reproductive health care they need. Women are being investigated or arrested when their pregnancies end in stillbirth or miscarriage. Do men face such a loss of control of their bodies? No.

It’s not just reproductive rights that are at risk in the United States during the 2020s.

1. In 2025, federal agencies received instructions to avoid using the words women or female. Agencies can continue to use the words men and male.⁴⁹²

1. In 2025, the federal government attacked the concept of and programs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). These programs include measures that help women of all races and ethnicities to gain equal opportunities to men.

1. In 2025, the U.S. Department of Education proposed to reduce the amount of loans certain students can receive in some women-dominated professions, including nurses, teachers, social workers, and physical therapists.⁴⁹³ These rules were finalized in May of 2026, even though these professions are in high demand.

1. In 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives passed The SAVE Act, which would make it very difficult for most married women to vote. This act would require proof of citizenship when people vote. It likely would create huge problems for up to 69 million married women, most of whom take their husbands’ last names. Their birth certificates would not match the names on their other forms of identification. Passports would be an acceptable form of identification, but they cost well over $100 to get, and about half the population doesn’t have one.⁴⁹⁴

Reflections

Even after almost 200 years of advocacy for women’s full human rights, we still don’t have them. And the rights women do have are eroding and are under threat. As a result, women are still treated like second-class citizens in the United States of the 2020s.

This backlash against women has been building since they began having success in politics, education, the job market, wages, and progress in fights against sexual assault. Women risk losing the valuable gains they have made since the 1970s because most of their rights aren’t guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Women repeatedly suffer this kind of backlash. It is underway in the United States now.

What risks do you think women and their families face as women’s rights erode? What are you willing to do to try to stop this backlash against women?